The present invention relates to the field of compactors for crushing recyclable containers, and more particularly to such compactors that are manually actuated.
Recycling conserves resources and also conserves space, particularly landfill space. Containers for liquids are primary examples of items for which recycling is logical. A container, when empty, takes up space without performing a function. By keeping a container from a landfill, the useful life of the landfill is extended and surrounding land does not have to be acquired for this purpose. By recycling a container, the material of which it is made can be used again, rather than making more of the same material from a diminishing supply of natural resources.
However, containers, in their full size, require space to store and vehicle space to transport. Thus, reducing the volume by crushing minimizes the space requirement to a more manageable amount. Even for non-recylcable containers, reduction of size is beneficial to reduce the space needed for garbage handling and in landfills.
Numerous devices have been developed for the purpose of crushing containers for recycling. Some examples are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,519 to Sabino describes a Vertical Can Crusher. This patent involves placing a recyclable container into a receptacle and forcing a ram down onto the container by means of a lever handle. To remove the crushed container from the device, the receptacle is moved out of its crushing position and the crushed can is pushed out of the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 266,566 issued to Schmid for an Aluminum Can Cruncher. This design patent depicts a device having a ram that is positioned over an anvil and a lever arm for actuating the ram. The ram has a disk attached to its lower end that is formed with a rim in a lower surface thereof that is intended to engage the upper rim of a can being crushed.
The invention involves a method and apparatus having a housing and a plunger and the apparatus being adapted for compacting empty containers, particularly large soft drink containers. The housing is formed having a circular cylindrical bottom portion, a conical transition portion, and a circular cylindrical top portion. The bottom portion is larger in diameter than the top portion. The bottom end of the bottom portion cylinder is open. The plunger has a shaft extending between a conical shoe on its bottom and a handle on its top. The shaft fits slidingly into the top portion of the housing with the handle above and the shoe within the cylinder. The apparatus is placed for use with the housing surrounding a container to be compacted, and with the shoe resting on the upper end of the container. The user presses down while rotating the handle so that the container is compressed and twisted simultaneously, minimizing the space it ultimately occupies. The apparatus is lifted and the handle pushed farther to discharge the compressed container. The compactor is sized to compress containers from a 12 ounce soft drink can to large bottles of up to three liters in capacity.